Getting there! I started this large (16" x 20") cross stitch piece last June, expecting to finish it in another week or two. I'll get it framed (maybe with a yellow mat?) for a wall piece. The next cross stitch project is a winter scene--I'll post it when the sunflowers are finished. Love these large, complex pieces: I don't have to keep assembling all the threads, etc to do a smaller piece, and there's enough variety and challenge in the patterns to hold my interest. For Christmas, I got a new magnifying lamp that is brighter and has more magnification than my old one. Perfect for me: I couldn't do this work without this essential helper.
Book report. I've finally finished the Ruby novella trilogy, currently called The Crystal Cave trilogy. Many interruptions in this Kindle-only project, which is planned for July/September/November publication. The project got bigger and more complicated as I went along. I like the novella digital format, which is not practical for print, given the cost of print publications. But I don't think I'll do another trilogy. There's a strong character-development arc in this one, but I can't be sure that readers will read them in the intended order.
A Plain Vanilla Murder (China Bayles 27) is on track for June publication in hardcover, ebook, and audio. I love the cover--and love working with my cover artist, Monica, who lives in Austria. There's a special pleasure in working with people who live abroad, like my longtime webmistress, Peggy, who now lives in Portugal, and Miek, a member of my agent-team, in Germany.
And we have a Vanilla winner! In a recent post, I asked your opinion about the title of this book. Nearly everyone who replied said that "Hemlock" is enough by itself, without the descriptive "poison." Thanks to all who took the time to offer the advice! I enjoyed reading your comments. The winning comment (chosen at random) is Charlene Kennedy, of Leesburg FL, who will receive a signed copy of A Plain Vanilla Murder in June.
Currently on the writing desk: Hemlock (China Bayles #28), which will be published in 2020. This will be a two-part mystery. A rare book--an 18th-century herbal--is stolen and China is asked to find it. Braided into China's search will be the story of how that herbal came to be written, which is a fascinating story, all by itself. You know how I love research--there's plenty of it in this project.
Teaching. I'm doing just one teaching event in 2019: a writing retreat for women, March 29-31, in the lovely little town of Fredericksburg TX. Come for the learning, the comradeship, and the lovely Hill Country wildflowers. But please do sign up early--registration will fill up fast, and we're limiting it.
Homestead report. It's been an unusually rainy winter, so our little lake is full and is an inviting home to many wintering ducks and geese. The backyard feeders are busy: cardinals, chickadees, titmice, sparrows (5 or 6 different species), goldfinch, redwinged blackbirds, and the occasional blue jay and woodpecker. The whitetailed bucks are sporting their wintertime antlers. Here's one, showing off. (The photo was taken from our front porch in November, when the grass was still mostly green.)
And of course, there's this, from Bill and me, to you: our very best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive 2019.
Reading note: And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things. ― Rainer Maria Rilke